BILL NUMBER: AB 2935	CHAPTERED  09/29/00

	CHAPTER   924
	FILED WITH SECRETARY OF STATE   SEPTEMBER 29, 2000
	APPROVED BY GOVERNOR   SEPTEMBER 29, 2000
	PASSED THE ASSEMBLY   AUGUST 30, 2000
	PASSED THE SENATE   AUGUST 28, 2000
	AMENDED IN SENATE   AUGUST 23, 2000
	AMENDED IN SENATE   JULY 6, 2000
	AMENDED IN SENATE   JUNE 26, 2000
	AMENDED IN SENATE   JUNE 13, 2000
	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY   MAY 11, 2000

INTRODUCED BY   Committee on Information Technology (Dutra (Chair),
Alquist, and Ducheny)

                        MARCH 23, 2000

   An act to amend Section 2952 of the Civil Code, to amend Section
1563 of the Code of Civil Procedure, and to amend Sections 27001,
27002.1, and 27201 of the Government Code, relating to government
records.



	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 2935, Committee on Information Technology.  Government records.

   (1) Existing law provides that whenever a mortgage or deed of
trust presented for recordation contains a reference to provisions in
a fictitious mortgage or deed preceded by a statement to the effect
that it is not to be recorded, the county recorder shall record only
the mortgage or deed of trust portion of the document and shall not
be liable for failure to record the portion with instructions not to
record.
   This bill would delete that provision.
   (2) Existing law provides generally that all escheated property
delivered to the Controller shall be sold by the Controller to the
highest bidder at public sale in a city that affords the most
favorable market for the property.
   This bill would also authorize the Controller to conduct the sale
of that property by electronic media if in his or her judgment it is
cost effective.
   (3) Existing law authorizes the county treasurer to destroy
certain certificates of the auditor delivered to the treasurer when
money is paid into the treasury under certain circumstances and to
enter records of receipt and expenditure of money paid out or
received by photography, entry into an electronic data processing
system, or other methods.
   This bill would authorize the recording and preservation of
documents by the county treasurer by the application of other
information technology.
   (4) Existing law requires documents required to be recorded by the
county recorder to contain an original signature or signatures.
   This bill would authorize facsimile signatures to be accepted on
liens recorded by a government agency, as specified.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:


  SECTION 1.  Section 2952 of the Civil Code is amended to read:
   2952.  Mortgages and deeds of trust of real property may be
acknowledged or proved, certified and recorded, in like manner and
with like effect, as grants thereof; provided, however, that a
mortgage or deed of trust of real property may be recorded and
constructive notice of the same and the contents thereof given in the
following manner:
   Any person may record in the office of the county recorder of any
county fictitious mortgages and deeds of trust of real property.
Those fictitious mortgages and deeds of trust need not be
acknowledged, or proved or certified to be recorded or entitled to
record.  Those mortgages and deeds of trust shall have noted upon the
face thereof that they are fictitious.  The county recorder shall
index and record fictitious mortgages and deeds of trust in the same
manner as other mortgages and deeds of trust are recorded, and shall
note on all indices and records of the same that they are fictitious.
  Thereafter, any of the provisions of any recorded fictitious
mortgage or deed of trust may be included for any and all purposes in
any mortgage or deed of trust by reference therein to any of those
provisions, without setting the same forth in full; provided, the
fictitious mortgage or deed of trust is of record in the county in
which the mortgage or deed of trust adopting or including by
reference any of the provisions thereof is recorded.  The reference
shall contain a statement, as to each county in which the mortgage or
deed of trust containing such a reference is recorded, of the date
the fictitious mortgage or deed of trust was recorded, the county
recorder's office wherein it is recorded, and the book or volume and
the first page of the records in the recorder's office wherein and at
which the fictitious mortgage or deed of trust was recorded, and a
statement by paragraph numbers or any other method that will
definitely identify the same, of the specific provisions of the
fictitious mortgage or deed of trust that are being so adopted and
included therein.  The recording of any mortgage or deed of trust
which has included therein any of those provisions by reference as
aforesaid shall operate as constructive notice of the whole thereof
including the terms, as a part of the written contents of the
mortgage or deed of trust, of those provisions so included by
reference as though the same were written in full therein.  The
parties bound or to be bound by provisions so adopted and included by
reference shall be bound thereby in the same manner and with like
effect for all purposes as though those provisions had been and were
set forth in full in any mortgage or deed of trust.
   The amendment to this section enacted by the 1957 Regular Session
of the Legislature does not constitute a change in, but is
declaratory of, the preexisting law.
  SEC. 2.  Section 1563 of the Code of Civil Procedure is amended to
read:
   1563.  (a) Except as provided in subdivisions (b) and (c), all
escheated property delivered to the Controller under this chapter
shall be sold by the Controller to the highest bidder at public sale
in whatever city in the state affords in his or her judgment the most
favorable market for the property involved, or the Controller may
conduct the sale by electronic media, including , but not limited to,
the Internet, if in his or her judgment it is cost-effective to
conduct the sale of the property involved in that manner. The
Controller may decline the highest bid and reoffer the property for
sale if he or she considers the price bid insufficient.  The
Controller need not offer any property for sale if, in his or her
opinion, the probable cost of sale exceeds the value of the property.
  Any sale of escheated property held under this section shall be
preceded by a single publication of notice thereof, at least one week
in advance of sale, in an English language newspaper of general
circulation in the county where the property is to be sold.
   (b) Securities listed on an established stock exchange within two
years following receipt by the Controller shall be sold at the
prevailing prices on that exchange.  Other securities may be sold
over the counter at prevailing prices or, with prior approval of the
State Board of Control, by any other method that the Controller may
determine to be advisable.  United States government savings bonds
and United States war bonds shall be presented to the United States
for payment.  Subdivision (a) does not apply to the property
described in this subdivision.
   (c) All escheated property consisting of military awards and
decorations that is delivered to the Controller is exempt from
subdivision (a) and shall be held in trust for the Controller at the
California National Guard Museum and Resource Center.  Any person
claiming an interest in the escheated property may file a claim to
the property pursuant to Article 4 (commencing with Section 1540).
   (d) The purchaser at any sale conducted by the Controller pursuant
to this chapter shall receive title to the property purchased, free
from all claims of the owner or prior holder thereof and of all
persons claiming through or under them.  The Controller shall execute
all documents necessary to complete the transfer of title.
  SEC. 3.  Section 27001 of the Government Code is amended to read:
   27001.  The treasurer shall file and keep the certificates of the
auditor delivered to him or her when money is paid into the treasury.
  Notwithstanding Sections 26201, 26202, and 26205, the treasurer may
destroy any certificate pursuant to this section under either of the
following circumstances:
   (a) The certificate has been filed for more than five years.
   (b) The certificate has been filed for more than one year, and all
of the following conditions are complied with:
   (1) The record, paper, or document is photographed,
microphotographed, or reproduced on film of a type approved for
permanent photographic records by the National Bureau of Standards.
   (2) The device used to reproduce the record, paper, or document on
film is one that accurately reproduces the original thereof in all
details.
   (3) The photographs, microphotographs, or other reproductions on
film are placed in conveniently accessible files and provision is
made for preserving, examining, and using the same.
   (4) The record, paper, or document is reproduced and preserved
utilizing other information technology .
  SEC. 4.  Section 27002.1 of the Government Code is amended to read:

   27002.1.  (a) The treasurer may, in lieu of entering in books an
account of the receipt and expenditure of all money received or paid
out by him or her as provided in Section 27002, photograph,
microphotograph, photocopy, or enter into an electronic
data-processing system that utilizes optical transmission and filing,
all receipts for money received by him or her and all warrants paid
out by him or her.
   (b) Every reproduction described in subdivision (a) shall be
deemed and considered an original, and a transcript, exemplification,
or certified copy of any of those reproductions shall be deemed and
considered a transcript, exemplification, or certified copy, as the
case may be, of the original.
   (c) All reproductions described in subdivision (a) shall be
properly indexed and placed in convenient, accessible files.  Each
roll of microfilm shall be deemed and constitute a book, and shall be
designated and numbered, and provision shall be made for preserving,
examining, and using it.
   A duplicate of each roll of microfilm shall be made and kept in a
safe and separate place.
  SEC. 5.  Section 27201 of the Government Code is amended to read:
   27201.  (a) The recorder shall, upon payment of proper fees and
taxes, accept for recordation any instrument, paper, or notice that
is authorized or required by statute or court order to be recorded,
if the instrument, paper, or notice contains sufficient information
to be indexed as provided by statute, meets recording requirements of
state statutes and local ordinances, and is photographically
reproducible.  The county recorder shall not refuse to record any
instrument, paper, or notice that is authorized or required by
statute or court order to be recorded on the basis of its lack of
legal sufficiency.
   "Photographically reproducible," for purposes of this division,
means all instruments, papers, or notices that comply with standards
as recommended by the American National Standards Institute or the
Association for Information and Image Management for recording of
records.
   (b) (1) Each instrument, paper, or notice shall contain an
original signature or signatures, except as otherwise provided by
law, or be a certified copy of the original.
   (2) A facsimile signature shall be accepted on a lien recorded by
a governmental agency when that facsimile signature has been
officially adopted by that agency.  The lien shall have noted on its
face a statement to that effect.  A copy of the agency's resolution
or action adopting the signature for facsimile transmission purposes
or a certified copy of the agency's adopted signature shall be
provided to the county recorder when the signature is officially
adopted by the agency, or at the beginning of each calendar year.
